Visions Of The Real
by AegisX-TAIL
Summary: “It started with the prophecy and a meeting with the ever so elusive Red X,” Raven thought. What happens when your world is revealed? What do you do when everything you thought was real turns out to be nothing more than an illusion?
1. Chapter 1 Connection Lost

_**Visions of the Real**_

By: **_AegisX_**

_**I know that you all are thinking not another story, but regrettably to say the least, yes it is. It's my mind that has been on overdrive lately, spouting out things like this and they won't let me be, so I have to do something about it, yeah.**_

**_Summary: "It started with the prophecy and a meeting with the ever so elusive Red X," Raven thought. What happens when your world is revealed? What do you do when everything you thought was real turns out to be nothing more than an illusion? That question and its answers change everything. TitansXMatrix RedXRae._**

**_1:Connection Lost_**

Raven sat on the tower roof, gazing at the full moon in the sky. The salty ocean breeze caressing Raven's face and sending her hair billowing behind her as she continued to gaze out towards the ocean. 'What am I going to do about this prophecy?' She thought to herself, trying to will her mind into providing an answer for her question.

"Penny for your thoughts?" a rough, metallic voice reached her ears.

She immediately whirled around to see none other than Red X standing behind her, looking up at the moon. "Red X! What are you doing here?" Raven said, standing up and sliding into a combat position, her black energy surrounding her fists.

"Relax, I'm not here to fight you," Red X said, walking over to her and taking a seat next to where Raven stood. "I just want to talk," he added as he slid off the power belt for the suit and laid it next to Raven.

"What makes you think that I want to talk to you?" Raven asked, slowly lowering her fists to her sides. "What makes you think I won't attack or call the others?" she asked, as she continued to gaze at the thief in front of her.

"You haven't called the rest of the team yet and you seem ready to take a seat," X remarked as he fiddled with something at the neck of the suit. "Besides talking isn't a crime is it?" he asked, looking up at Raven.

"No it isn't but you're a wanted criminal," she answered back and sat down, thinking 'What's the harm in talking? Considering how things might turn out, pretty soon.'

"Let's just put that aside for tonight," X answered as he slowly extended his right arm out, opening his hand and closing it around the visage of the moon. "Look at the moon; it's beautiful, isn't it? Kinda makes you feel like you could reach out and grab it, doesn't it?" he said casually before pulling his arm back.

"Yes it does, but I never figured a thief could appreciate something like this," Raven answered with a dry tone, looking at X while he lounged back on his elbows.

"Yeah, well, there are a lot of things that I appreciate," X told her, as he raised his hand up to the mask and pressed a hidden button on it. "For one thing, I appreciate your leader. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have this suit."

Raven was surprised when she realized that X was now using his normal voice, as he had deactivated the voice changer. He carried an accent that spoke of street life, yet it was not harsh, only smooth and sweet. "Why turn off the voice changer?" she asked, as she leaned back on her elbows as well.

"I don't know, it makes me feel different, inhuman," was X's response.

"That's not inhuman," Raven retorted, "Inhuman is-"

"I know what inhuman is, I just used it to express myself." X snapped back, turning around to gaze at Raven. "I know all about it, Raven, all about it."

Raven's gaze shifted back out to the ocean, seeing the moving shapes in the water at the distance.

"You know something, that prophecy of yours isn't bad."

Raven turned around to look at X, giving him an intense glare as she answered "Not bad? Not bad, you say? It means the end of the world, so how wouldn't that be bad?"

Red X chuckled as he sat up again, his hands moving up the mask. Raven's eyes went wide as it fell to the ground, making a small sound as it landed next to the belt and she got her first look at Red X.

Young, around 17 years old, he had long red and black hair, trailing past his ears, which were pierced several times, silver hoops dangling from them both, and he turned around with a wicked smirk on his face as she gazed into his silver rimmed forest green eyes, almost losing herself to them. The paleness of his skin adding to a strange aura of attractiveness that seemed to pour out from him as he continued to watch her face. "Am I that horrible to look at?" he asked in a joking manner.

Raven blushed as she stuttered out "N-no, i-it's just that…" she trailed off before she could say anything else. She remained silent for a few minutes while X continued to look into the sky, before she asked "Why take off the mask? Why me of all people?"

"Just trying to balance out the equation, you know?" X commented as he stood up, stretching slowly. "It's not fair for me to know so much about you and you to know nothing about me," he added as he turned and gave her a roguish smile and a wink.

Raven colored, watching as both the mask and belt be enveloped by black energy. X chuckled again before snatching the said items out of the air and placing them back down on the ground. "What do you mean by know so much about me?" she asked after a few minutes.

"Well, it was kinda hard to miss a dead man coming back to life and all," X answered as he sat back down on the ground. "I mean, no one survives a fall into magma then comes back shooting flames."

Raven's eyes intensified as she asked "What do you mean it's kind of hard to miss a dead man?" Suspicion was the main thing radiating off her voice and also there was worry.

"I wanted to talk to you so I came hear and well after you got the call, I kinda shadowed you all the rest of the way," X answered, shrugging his shoulders and drumming his fingers on the roof top.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Raven asked as she forcefully pushed away the memories of her encounter with Slade.

"I wanted to ask you if you've felt it yet," X said, his manner now serious.

"Felt what exactly?" Raven said, and a familiar, yet strange feeling of vertigo suddenly washing over her as she looked around. She looked at the bridge that crossed the Jump City bay and it seemed to vanish in her eyes before returning back to its place. She continued looking around and it happened repeatedly with anything that she looked at. "What's happening?" she asked in a tremulous voice.

"You feel it then, as I thought." X replied before turning around to face her once more. "What you felt and what you saw, what exactly was it? Explain it to me."

Raven looked at him in the eyes for a few seconds before she started speaking "It felt strange, it felt as if nothing here was real." X nodded and she continued "Everything seemed to vanish from their places before reappearing again. Nothing felt real, it felt as if this was all some kind illusion."

X nodded again and this time he said "Good, so you do feel it. Do you want to know what is and why you can feel it?" Raven nodded but before X could continue, the sound of the roof door opening reached their ears. X quickly put on his mask and the belt as he stood, Raven standing as well.

"Look, it all has to do with your prophecy," X said hurriedly before looking over his shoulder and he added "Don't try to stop the prophecy, that's what will give you your answers."

"Raven, hey, Raven!" Cyborg's voice reached their ears and X walked towards the edge of the roof.

"Don't stop the prophecy, remember that," he repeated.

"What the hell-" Raven started to ask but before she could finish, X jumped off the tower edge and vanished from sight.

Raven sighed and quickly straightened herself when Cyborg walked over to her "You alright Raven?"

"Yeah," she responded before pulling her hood back up and heading back into the tower.

**xXx**-xX**x**-**x**Xx-**xxXxx**-xX**x**-**x**Xx-**xXx**

X materialized on the rooftop of a rickety apartment building, the wind playing with his cape making it billow. He pulled a black razor cellphone, and placed it against his ear listening to the line ring away.

"Operator," a foxy female voice answered.

"Erika, I need a line out." X spoke into the receiver while he examined the block around the building.

"Hold on…" was Erika's reply as the sounds of rapid typing reached his ears.

"Can't give you an exit… The exile's behind you," she replied tersely.

X turned around as the sounds of footsteps reached his ears and he whirled around, the phone falling onto the ground as he shifted into his favored Jeet Kun Do fighting stance.

Another man walked out of the shadows, clothed in a black and red body suit, the face mask having only one eye visible and a glowing red S like symbol on the forehead. "Slade!" X hissed, as the figure came to a halt only 2 meters away from him.

"Well, you seem well," Slade commented as he looked X over.

"What the hell do you want? Or are you here for another stomping?" X asked, his fists clenching and unclenching as he watched him warily.

"Boy, do you think you can best me?" Slade asked with a chuckle as he turned away from X and looked up at the sky.

"I did before and I'll do it again if I have to," X answered, this time X shaped blades extended from the jagged x's on his gloves, rotating rapidly.

"Now, now, just relax. I'm not here to fight you" Slade said as he walked towards the spot where X stood. "And anyway, you can't defeat me as I am now," he added, laughing maliciously.

"Whatever, just say your piece and jam," X retorted as he unclenched his fists and the x blades retracted back into the gloves.

"Well, I noticed that you went to the tower, did you speak with our little bird?" Slade asked, mock innocence the tone he chose.

"She's not yours and you know that already," X snapped off, causing Slade to laugh again.

"If you say so, I was sent by the master to ensure your help in this endeavor," Slade answered, choosing not to hear what X had said.

"I say that both you and your _master _aregoing to screw this whole thing up for us," X said walking towards the edge of the roof.

The sound of a door slamming halted X and froze Slade where he stood as they both turned around. Standing by a damaged door were three men, dressed in black suits, sunglasses covering their eyes and all with a earpiece inserted into their ears. "Fugitives are ordered to stand down and await termination," the middle one with his black hair slicked back out of his face spoke.

"You actually think that works?" X snapped off as his X blades reappeared on his gloves, spinning at a high velocity. "I think it's time you wind up toys left."

"We need not concern ourselves, they are weak," the brown haired agent next to the center agent spoke as he calmly drew a handgun.

"Yes, inconsequential," the third agent added as he himself pulled out a handgun.

"Oh, I'll show you inconsequential!" X yelled as he prepared to launch himself at them. He found an arm barring his way and that arm was attached to Slade, who only laughed coldly.

"Let me deal with these insects," Slade spoke, not making it sound as a request but as an order. He raised his left hand, which was surrounded by a deep red glow before he lashed out with a bar of flames that sliced across the agents and reduced them to motes of ash, which in turn disappeared entirely.

"No style whatsoever Slade," X commented as he picked up the phone he'd dropped earlier and placed the receiver back to his ear. Once he realized the line was cut, he shrugged and placed the phone back into the belt as he turned back to Slade.

"If this concludes our little meeting, then I'll be heading out before those agents return." X told Slade.

"As long as you do your part of the bargain," Slade answered and walked into the shadows of the building.

X pulled out the cellphone again, "Operator, I need my exit now," he said. After a few minutes, he was on his way to a jewelry store, whose phone was currently ringing off the hook. He found it easy to penetrate the security and find the phone; he picked it up and held it to his ear, feeling a wave of cold rush through him.

**xXx**-xX**x**-**x**Xx-**xxXxx**-xX**x**-**x**Xx-**xXx**

"Titans, trouble!" Robin's voice reached her ears as she finished dressing herself after a long, cold shower. With a grimace, Raven pulled her cloak towards her with her magic and slid it on, running out the door. She met with the rest of the titans in the living room as they stopped to watch the giant television as it currently played live footage of an attack by none other than Slade.

"Titans Go!" Robin yelled and they all dashed towards their own methods of transportation. Soon they arrived at the scene of Slade shooting beams of flames at cars and other objects, which proceeded to detonate.

"Slade, it's time to put you on ice," Robin yelled, always some kind of line pouring from his lips before lunging at him to attack.

Slade laughed before dodging out of the way of the vicious blows that Robin rained on him with his quarterstaff, biding his time until… "Got you," he said as he planted a kick to Robin's ribs and proceeded to send him flying into the sky with a well placed uppercut.

Cyborg saw Robin take the hit and he launched one of his sonic blasts, which Slade dodge, before getting nailed by a pillar that Raven tossed at him.

Slade shrugged off the hit from the pillar and planted a kick to Beast Boy's head as he rushed at Slade in bull form. Slade followed the kick with several more that left the changeling on the floor bloody and unconscious. Several starbolts hit the ground at his feet and exploded throwing up a cloud of dust which Raven threw several benches into and Cyborg shot off his cannon more than once, hoping to get him with a clean hit.

Raven felt strange yet she didn't realize why she did.

A/N: Sorry to leave such a cliffhanger, yet I'm too sleepy to resume my work on this, yeah. I'll see all dat bother to review this, at the batcave…oops, I mean in the next session. Yeah.


	2. Chapter 2 Systems Crash

**_Wow, I made it to the next episode. Wow. Thanks to those who reviewed, yeah. Now I don't own the titans, or the matrix, maybe Red X's secret identity, yeah. Alright, on with the show. Yeah._**

**2: Systems Crash**

Slade walked out of the dust with his neck tilted at a wrong angle. With a loud crunch, the villain put wrenched his neck back into place as he continued walking, coming to a halt in front of Raven, his hands clasped behind his back once more. "You know, you shouldn't make this difficult, my dear Raven," he spoke softly.

Cyborg ran at Slade, his cannon fully charged as he yelled "How's this for easy?" trying to land a hit on Slade's back and to release his blast at point blank range.

Slade swatted him away with a burst of flames from his right arm, sending Cyborg to the ground crashing with his arm smoldering and unconscious to boot.

Raven's eyes filled with anger as she chanted "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Robin's R-cycle hovered into the sky, encased inside a bubble of black magic and hurtled at the villain.

"Noooo…." Robin yelled as he watched his R-cycle get sliced in half with a flick of Slade's hands and after a few seconds explode. Robin got mad. He rushed at Slade, intent on beating him when another beam of flames appeared in front of him.

Starfire grabbed Robin, spiriting away to safety just in the nick of time. She flew at Slade, Robin at her side as she launched out a volley of her starbolts which were joined by a couple of Robin's freeze discs. Slade laughed as he encased himself in a bubble of fire, not noticing that Raven was behind him with a floating pillar until it struck him. The force of the blow was enough to send him out of the dome of flames and into the path of the starbolts and freeze discs.

Slade seemed to freeze, his body encased inside a solid block of ice before it began to glow red and it turned to nothing but a wisp of steam as it evaporated. "You've made the ice stronger, yet as you see, it cannot hold me." Slade said mockingly as Starfire launched herself at him.

"You shouldn't just run in head first, my dear," Slade said before moving out of the way at the last minute and bringing his elbow on her neck, not bothering to watch as the alien girl crumpled to the ground unconscious.

Robin had launched himself at Slade, managing to get within striking range as Starfire was elbowed to the ground. Slade laughed as he parried Robin's strikes and caught Robin in the ribs with a punishing blow that brought the kid wonder to his knees; he followed the strike with a kick to the head that sent Robin's body flying away from him.

Raven watched as the last of her friends fell to the ground as Slade strode over to her.

"Now, now, don't look at me like that. I warned you not to make this difficult," Slade said as he stepped in front of her again.

He reached over to her, trying to place his right hand on her shoulder when Raven suddenly gave him a menacing growl.

"You shouldn't have done that," Raven said, her eyes now glowing red as a second pair appeared. She pulled Slade inside a dome of black magic, trying to crush him as she slammed him against the ground repeatedly. After several minutes, she collapsed to her knees as exhaustion pulled at her eyes offering her the embrace of unconsciousness.

Slade slowly got up, wrenching dislocated body parts back into place before walking over to Raven one more time. "It'll take more than that to stop, Raven," he said in a fake, jovial voice.

He reached out to grab her by the shoulders when something collided with his head, the momentum serving to send him crashing to the ground.

"She's not yours Slade, I told you already," A familiar metallic voice sounded.

Raven looked around as quick as she could, trying to find the owner of the voice.

Slade got up from the ground, almost spitting in anger as he watched Red X appear in front of Raven. "I remember telling you to do your piece, yet here you are being counter productive," Slade's voice had a menacing chill as he focused his one eye at X.

"You're doing everything the wrong way, you imbecile," X snapped at Slade, before turning back to Raven, quickly examining her for wounds. "You're not hurt, good," X sighed as he spoke those words before standing up and turning back to Slade.

"Just get the fuck out of here and I'll deal with the rest," X told him.

"No, it is you that should have left," Slade answered before lashing out with a beam of fire. X remained in front of Raven, unable to move without leaving her open to the attack. The attack seemed to slow in X's eyes before suddenly coming to a halt a few millimeters away from his mask.

A loud roaring voice spoke "Fool, you are in position to ruin everything, halt!"

"Lord Trigon, the human interrupted the task that you set me to do," Slade answered as he fell to one knee.

"Leave the human alone and return back before I destroy you for your incompetence," Trigon's voice rumbled and Slade rose up to his feet before disappearing in a burst of flames.

X slid the x-blades back into his gloves before turning back to Raven, helping her to her feet. "Are you alright?" he asked, his voice changer off once again.

"Yes, He didn't even try attacking me," Raven answered, looking around at her unconscious friends.

"I'm glad you're alright then," X said as he pulled out a small band aid from a compartment in the belt and placed it on a small nick on raven's hand. He held her hand for several seconds after that before remembering to let it go.

Raven blushed and lowered her gaze as she muttered "Thanks for… helping me," giving X reason to smile under his mask.

"Aww… how cute, a thief and a titan getting all gooey together," the obnoxious voice of Johnny Rancid reached their ears. They quickly turned around to face him. On either side of him stood one of his usual robotic creations, a huge t-rex to the right and a huge bull-dog on the left.

"What the hell do you want, Rancid?" X hissed, his voice changer back on as he stood in front of Raven protectively.

"Just here to pay the titans a little visit," Rancid replied, stepping forward.

"Get the fuck out of here," X yelled, launching a kick at Rancid, catching him in the side of the head and knocking him to the floor.

Johnny picked himself up, spitting blood on the asphalt as he said "Oh, that's it, you're dead." Both his mechanical creations lumbered towards X, who simply stood his ground.

"Wow, now that's a lot of moving scrap," he commented.

Rancid growled at him, following his robots. A pair of rockets came streaking through the air, colliding with the robots and reducing them to nothing but scrap.

Raven watched as two men dressed in black suits and long dusters appeared, sunglasses snug around their faces as they observed their handy work, the smoking rocket launchers pointing to the ground.

"Thanks boys, but Rancid is mine," X said, giving a small wave at the two men before running at Johnny. He punched him twice in the ribs, before crouching down and then jumping up as his uppercut put the criminal into the air. He walked back to Raven as Johnny's unconscious form hit the ground.

Raven saw the two suit clad men drop the launchers, which hit the floor with a clatter; X turned and gave a wave to a red haired man, apparently the leader, because he turned around and with a wave of his hand, they both disappeared into an alley.

"Who were they?" Raven asked.

"Friends of mine," X responded. He walked over to where the unconscious Robin lay, nudging him in the ribs with the tip of his boot, earning himself a load groan. After a few minutes, he slowly started to come around so Red X turned back to Raven.

"Now that your buddies are awake, I'll take my leave," he told her giving a elegant bow before he righted himself and tapped the button on the belt. Raven watched as he disappeared in a blur before turning to Robin, who slowly pulled himself up to his feet.

"Raven, where's Slade?" he asked, holding his arm to his side, where his ribs were giving him a sharp poke.

"Slade's gone," Raven answered as she walked over to Cyborg, proceeding to examine him for substantial damage.

"What do you mean gone? Where'd he go?" Robin asked a little forcefully as Raven started up Cyborg.

"He left and I don't know where he went," Raven snapped back as she pressed the last key that booted Cyborg up.

"Whoa, what hit me?" Cyborg asked as he stifled a groan. He saw his slagged hand and immediately remembered how it happened as he said "Bastard got me good."

Beast Boy slowly pulled himself together, sitting on the ground with a hand on his head and the other holding his nose to try to stem the flow of blood. "Aww… dude, ow I'm dunna need a nose nob!" (Now I'm gonna need a nose job!) he yelled.

Cyborg walked over to Starfire, gently trying to rouse her "Star… hey Star, wake up," he said shaking her shoulder. He looked up to Robin and said "It's no good, she's out cold."

Robin clenched his teeth, walking over to Raven and in the process spotted an unconscious Johnny Rancid.

"Why'd Slade leave?" he asked, then he asked "How'd he get here?" motioning towards Rancid.

Raven looked at him for a few moments and answered "Slade was called away, and as for Rancid, he tried to take us out of the picture while we were down." A few moments later, Raven enveloped Starfire in a cocoon of black energy, pulling it into the portal she opened to the Tower.

**xXx-xXx-xXx**

Several hours later, Raven sat on the roof of the tower meditating. Having received almost no wounds in the battle, she used the time to contemplate on the events that occurred. 'Slade said something about being counter productive, but what did he mean?' she asked herself, levitating a couple of inches higher than normal.

But before she could think on the subject further, a voice shocked her out of her trance. "My Raven, you are well, are you not?"

Raven turned towards the speaker, revulsion filling her tongue as she said "Get away from me, Slade!" as she shifted herself into a combat stance.

"Have you forgotten, my dear, we have unfinished business," Slade casually responded as he stepped closer.

Raven raised her hands, beginning her chant "Azarath Me-" but she was cut off as for the second time in the day, a large red x shuriken collided with Slade's head.

"Get the hell away from her, exile scum!" Red X stood a few feet away from them both, his hands at the ready to launch more projectiles.

"Again you interrupt, boy, but this time is the last!" Slade said as he took a step towards X. Before he could finish taking a second, two more blades embedded themselves into the ground in front of him.

Two more figures appeared next to Red X. The first, a woman with ice blue hair, her cobalt eyes blazing cold in an otherwise beautiful face; a long black upside down cross marking below her right eye. Her clothing consisted of tight black leather pants with a matching pair of black boots; wearing a long sleeve black blouse covered by a mesh shirt, which in turn was covered by a black vest. She held two more crosses in her hands, the long parts sharpened into blades as she took up a position to Red X's right.

On the left now stood a man with red hair spiked to the side, his eyes both covered by a metal plated bandana. He wore a tight blue t-shirt with a white vest closed over it, dark blue pants, a pair of white gloves and white boots to finish the ensemble. He held a double edged sword shaped like an extended triangle made of a strange glowing green material with a white hilt, which was in his hand.

"Make your move, exile and I guarantee that even your employer won't be able to save you," the male spoke with a deep voice, his grip tightening around the sword hilt.

"Hmm… I see that you cannot face me without your _caretakers _making an appearance," Slade said with a small chuckle. Before he could make a decision on attacking or leaving, an alarm sounded making his decision for him. "It seems like I have to take my leave," Slade informed Raven before disappearing in a burst of flames.

As X and his allies moved closer to the edge of the tower to make their escape, Robin appeared, sliding to a halt with his quarter staff in hand "Hold it there, X!" he yelled.

"Sorry, but you didn't say simon says," X answered with a laugh before leaping off the tower roof, closely followed by his friends.

Robin ran to the edge, trying to catch sight of them before walking back muttering darkly.

Raven tried to make her escape, heading to her room when Robin called out "Raven we need to talk!" effectively pinning her there.

Raven stopped and looked back over her shoulder, "Can we talk about this later?" she asked.

"No, we need to talk about this now," Robin answered as he walked forward. "What the hell was Red X doing here and why didn't you sound the alarm?"

Raven looked at him, her eyes seemed to burn as she stared the boy wonder down.

"He's a criminal, why didn't you try capturing him," Robin asked again, this time a hint of frustration reached his voice.

Raven continued staring him down before turning around disappearing into a portal created by her magic.

"Damn it Raven, what aren't you telling us?" Robin muttered before putting away his weapon and heading to bed.

**_A/N: Yep and there goes another episode in V.O.T.R., yeah. Now I gotta say, thanks to those that reviewed and I hope to see them again in the next episode. Yeah. _**

"**_Just go," points at a random location – Orange Flavored Death._**

"_**Go where?" – Me, AegisX**_

"_**To the Batcave," – O.F.D**_

"_**What?" – AGX**_

"_**Or would you rather go to Neverland Ranch?" – O.F.D**_

"**_I think I'll drop by and see what batman's doing" muttering, knees shaking in fear. - AGX._**


	3. Chapter 3 Unplugged

**_Alright, lets kick this party off, now I don't own the titans as all know and I surely do own Red X's secret identity and a few other characters that've been here. Yeah, I don't own the Matrix, and my favorite was the first one. Yeah, enough from me, let's get this thing started. Read and Review, plz. _**

_**3: Unplugged**_

Raven sighed as she placed the scissors down on the sink, locks of her hair littering it. She swept it all down the drain, replacing the scissors to their rightful place. 'Another hair cut down,' she thought as she walked out of the bathroom, fresh from her shower; the red markings on her body fading away very slowly under her scrutinizing gaze. She stood there for a few minutes before the markings completely vanished.

It had been three days since the incident on the roof and Raven was nowhere nearer to solving the problem she was set with. "What's his agenda?" she muttered to herself, walking into the kitchen and pouring herself a cup of tea. It was early in the morning and none of the other titans were awake, so she sat alone in the kitchen sipping her tea.

"What do you mean by agenda?" someone asks and Raven flinched slightly, immediately turning around to face the speaker. "Hey, I hope you don't mind, I helped myself to some of your kool-aid," X told her, sipping on the drink with his mask partially off his face.

"What are you doing here?" Raven hissed, wondering how she didn't notice the thief enter the room.

"I just came because it's about time we finished that talk that was interrupted the last time," X replied taking another sip of the kool-aid. He sat on a chair, leaning against the counter as comfortable as he could make himself. "Where did we leave off at?" he asked.

"You were telling me about the world and what was wrong with it in your opinion," Raven stated as she watched the thief take another sip of the drink in his hand before turning to look at her.

"I'll tell you this as straight forward as I can. This world does not exist, everything in this world is not real, any questions so far?" X asked after his first sentence.

"What do you mean it's not real? That is doesn't exist?" Raven asked.

"Simple, it is nothing but a visual reproduction being fed into your mind," X stated calmly, taking another sip. "You see this cup here, the kool aid in the cup? It's not there, it is nothing more than d-"

"Dude, what the hell is Red X doing here?" the groggy voice of Beast Boy interrupted X. Pulling his mask all the way down, he turned quickly on Beast Boy, pinning him to the wall with a x that turned into glue.

"Again with the interruptions," he sighed before tapping his belt and disappearing.

Beast Boy stared at Raven, lips moving yet nothing coming out as he was speechless. He started struggling, trying to unpin himself from the wall several times yet all his struggles yielded the same efforts as the first time, leaving him stuck to the wall.

"Raven, what the hell? Help me!" Beast Boy yelled, still struggling frantically.

"I think you look better that way," Raven said as she walked out of the kitchen area and the living room, heading for the tower roof with a book in her hand.

"Come on, this isn't funny!" Beast Boy yelled at Raven's retreating form. Raven didn't look back.

All it took was 8 minutes and Beast Boy was free, while Robin was stalking towards the roof. He opened the door violently, slamming it against the wall as he stalked out onto the roof and called out "Raven! We need to talk!"

Receiving no reply, he walked towards the end of the tower sighting Raven floating at the far end. He reached her, laying a hand on her shoulder. He was forced to leap back when an x shuriken whizzed by his head.

Robin whirled around, his quarterstaff in hand as he saw Red X face to face with him. "What are you doing here?" he snarled, watching for any signs of movement.

X stood there, examining his gloved hand as if waiting for something. When he noticed the silence, he seemed startled as he said in an incredulous voice "Whoa, you stopped before your little punch line, wow!" Robin to a step forward and X raised his hands "Relax, I'm just here to talk to you, that's all."

"I don't have anything to talk about to a criminal!" Robin hissed.

"Look, wonder bread, relax. This is important," X snapped at him.

"I doubt that it is," Robin retorted.

"Look, bullshit aside, it's important," X told him, his voice now serious. He turned to Raven, tapping her on the shoulder. "Rae, I need your help with this," X told her.

Robin arched an eyebrow at that 'Rae? How close are they!' the thought flashed through his head, followed by anger.

Raven finally turned around and looked at both of them. "They don't need to know," Raven told them both in icy tones.

"No, they do need to know," X replied.

Both he and Raven locked eyes, both engaging in a test of wills. Raven nodded once, looking away from X. Robin watched both, wondering what was going on before X cleared his throat.

"Well this all begins with the birth of Raven and a prophecy that was made." X said, gesturing for Raven to tell her half of the story.

"I am a half demon; my father is one of the seven great demon lords. He used my mother to conceive me and made plans for my birth. The prophecy said that he would rise from the abyss, to destroy earth and the rest of the universe," Raven uttered in monotone, reminding X of an answering machine.

"Who is he? Are there signs?" Robin asked, his mind already running through the information he'd received.

"His name is Scathe, or Trigon to you," Raven answered. "And as for signs, like X told me, it'd kind of hard to miss a dead man coming back to life."

"You mean that Slade is working for him?" Robin asked, his eyes widening. "Those markings that appeared on your body, are they part of it?"

"Nah, they're just body decorations," X retorted sarcastically.

Robin's eyes hardened as he turned to X and said "Don't push your luck, thief."

"Whatever chuckles, I'm just here to let you all know that Slade will mount an assault on the tower in a couple of days if Raven fails to go with him willingly," X said, his fist clenching at the thought of that. "I'm probably going to be here too, since Slade has a heavy hand when he wants to get something badly."

"Let him try it, he won't get anywhere near Raven," Robin retorted as he launched another glare at X, who shrugged at him.

The alarms decided to go conveniently go off at that moment. Robin glared at X and said "I'll be back and well finish this then," before rushing off down the stairs, already yelling into his communicator "Titans trouble!"

X took a moment to look at Raven, pulling off his mask to look her in the eyes with no obstructions. "Raven, it's important that you listen to what I'm about to tell you, it'll make everything easier."

Raven was blushing as she gazed at X. His powerful gaze meeting hers and sending sparks down her spine, she nodded slowly afraid of speaking and stumbling over her own tongue.

"When Slade comes to the tower, go with him. I'll be close to make sure he does nothing to hurt you," X said in a rush, reaching out and grasping her hand in his. "Don't worry, just let the prophecy run its course and you'll be free to be you," he added in the end.

They both stood there, eyes locked on each other for a few seconds until Robin's voice suddenly blared out of Raven's communicator. "Raven, let's go!" With the moment ruined, X watched as Raven blushed madly, pulling on her hood and dropping into a portal of black swirling energy in the floor.

**xXx**-xX**x**-**x**Xx-**xxXxx**-xX**x**-**x**Xx-**xXx**

The attack was perpetuated by none other than Slade. An attack designed to lead the Titans into discovering the truth about Raven and her prophecy but Red X had already taken care to give the Titans a fair warning. It still shocked the rest of the titans when Raven finally snapped, using her powers to capture a retreating Slade and to pound him mercilessly.

X watched everything and he knew she was close to the edge, close to the precipice where she would either survive or lose her mind. He decided that a little visit was in order, but the visit would have to be when the boy wonder was out of the tower and luck would have it, he left the tower on a journey to find the _ultimate master _(load of bullshit if you asked him)

Raven listened as Robin left, wondering what kind of chaos would occur now that _parental supervision _was officially walking out of the tower's front door. She stood up from her bed, stretching herself in a fashion that would've made the titan leader himself blush. "Mhhmm… now that's nice," another voice interrupted her silent musings.

Startled, she turned around as the sounds of an explosion somewhere in the tower reached her ears. Red X sat against the wall, gazing at her with the same vivid silver green eyes and a small smirk on his lips "Whoa, nice reflexes," he said with a chuckle. He stood up and she noticed the lack of costume as the thief walked over to her. Clad in dark blue jeans, a tight black t-shirt with a red biohazard on the front, a black vest over the t-shirt, a pair of black combat boots.

"What are you doing here?" Raven asked, eyeing her door suspiciously.

"Well, I just came over to pay you a little visit," X answered, reaching out with his hand and flicking it. Raven watched as a small blue flower appeared in his hands and she only rolled her eyes at X, who clutched his hands to his heart with a dramatic sigh "And so my heart shatters into oblivion."

"Cheap magic tricks won't get you anywhere," Raven countered as she watched the thief suddenly start juggling items that kept appearing with the same little flick he did. A ball, a rose, a pack of peanuts, a bowl of Beast Boy's tofu, jello, and even one of Robin's bird-a-rangs made it into the circle.

"Does this amuse you?" X asked, only to be answered by a flying book, which he managed to slide into the circle. "Thanks for the help," X said as he now juggled the book and the other items.

Raven's eye twitched slightly as she watched him, until suddenly X was enveloped in a bubble of dark energy and she pulled him to the rooftop along with herself. "What are you doing here?" she asked, her usual monotone layered with a slight hint of anger.

"Hmm… well, I already said it, I'm here to visit you," X replied offhandedly, as he continued to juggle.

"Why are you here to visit me?" Raven asked, seeing as she'd need to be more specific in order to get the answers she wanted. X continued to juggle without a care, not bothering to answer Raven's question until the bowl of tofu he juggled came crashing down on his head.

"Aghhh… Come on, did you have to do that?" X asked as he continued to juggle the other items.

"Yes, until you tell me why it is that you're here," Raven answered him, the bowl of jello that X still juggled glowing black.

"Alright, alright, I came over because I've noticed that since Slade reappeared, you've been under a lot of stress and I thought you could use some relaxation," X said as he slowly put down things until he had nothing in his hands.

"I… I'm already relaxed," Raven answered, facing another direction.

"You got to relax if you want to keep your powers in check," X told her as he watched the book and several other items he had juggled, float into the air.

"Why do you say that?" Raven asked, still not looking at X, who was now ready to move away from the now glowing black jello plate.

"Um… this over here," X said, motioning to the now rotating circle of items, all encased in black energy.

Raven looked at the circle before turning away and mumbling "Azarath Metrion Zinthos," several times until her powers subsided.

"That's exactly what I was talking about," X said with a smirk before adding "Just let me get this crap out of my hair and change your clothing, then we'll be ready to leave." They phased back into Raven's room, courtesy of her and X stepped inside her personal bathroom.

Raven heard a small _oh _from inside the bathroom before X came back outside, his face sporting a wicked grin. "Reminds me of my female roommate," he said with a chuckle.

Raven immediately gasped as she ran into her bathroom, X sitting on her bed all the while. He watched as Raven came back, her face equally red as she muttered "This never happened," looking up to see X nod in agreement.

Five minutes after that whole ordeal, both Raven and X were walking out of her room, heading for the tower garage. "Friend Raven, may I ask who your companion is?" the cheerful voice of Starfire reached their ears. Both turned to see the redheaded alien floating in mid-air and Yoh immediately gave a chuckle.

"Wow, I never thought the kid's suit would look that good on a chick," X said as Raven only arched an eyebrow at the sight.

Starfire was floating in front of them, wearing not her usual purple skirt and blouse. She now wore one of Robin's costumes, boots and mask included. "Thank you very much." Starfire replied, her cheeks tinting red.

"Do I even want to know?" Raven asked as she saw Beast Boy wearing another of Robin's costumes.

"It is our way of remembering friend Robin," Starfire said, a beaming smile on her face.

X looked at Raven, who only shrugged before saying "We'll see you later, Star," and both walked out of the tower.

"So how are we going to get off your island?" X asked casually, leaning against a rock outcropping.

Raven looked at him strangely before answering "I'm going to teleport, I don't know about you." She slowly started to sink into a black portal, 'oh no you don't!' X thought as he dove into the portal after her.

Raven was shocked when X grabbed her, startling her out of her trance. The portal started to quiver, gale force winds blowing as they tumbled throughout the darkness of the portal until they were dumped out of it into the bright sunlight. X felt a familiar sense of vertigo, noticing that the portal had dumped them high into the atmosphere, "Raven! Um… we're falling!" X yelled out.

Raven was tumbling through the air alongside of Red X, the wind whipping her hair everywhere as she started to slow herself down with her abilities. She saw X spread his limbs in skydiver fashion to slow himself down as he spun in the air. She heard him give a loud whoop of laughter and she yelled at him "You are certifiably crazy!"

X answered with nothing but a laugh as he sped up his decent, grabbing Raven by the waist. Her face went red as she tried to pull out of X's arms, but X had a grip of steel and so they continued to plummet. Well, that is until Raven remembered her abilities and decided that turning into a smear on asphalt wasn't a fun experience. She created a black disk where they stood, slowing them both down considerably so they could float towards the peer.

"Aw… what's the fun in that?" X asked joking around from where he now stood on the disk, his arms still wrapped around Raven.

"You know you can let me go anytime now, right?" Raven said. X smirked as he whispered into her ear "Yet I don't want to, I'd rather hold you all day." Raven's face went bright red, followed by a loud raucous laugh from X.

"Come on, Rae, just relax," X said as they both stepped off the black disc of energy and onto the pier. "There are a lot of carnival rides that say you'll be better off after you get on."

And that's how they spent the entire afternoon, one ride after another. Before they knew it, the carnival was closed and they were headed back to the titans tower.

"T-thanks… I… enjoyed the trip…" Raven said slowly, looking anywhere but at X's face.

"I'd wouldn't have it any other way," X said as he kneeled, brushing his lips across Raven's hand as he kissed it.

Raven blushed, yet nothing around her was exploding, which surprised her. Before she could comment on that, she was interrupted by the sound of a blazing fast techno song.

X pulled out a black RZR phone from a pocket, answering it "Yo!"

"What the hell are you doing in there?" the pissed off voice of his operator, Erika, reached his ears.

"Nothing, just leaving Raven back home," was X's answer.

"Well, you have agents headed your way and you've attracted sentinels," Erika answered tensely.

"Damn… just unplug me."

After a few more sentences, X hung up the phone and put it away.

"Sorry but I'm going to have to cut this short," he told Raven as he leaned out of her window. "Adios…" he said with a wave as he let himself drop out of the window, down.

Raven rushed to the window, looking down as she watched X's body fade into the very air itself. 'Where did he go?' She thought to herself as she walked away from the window.

_**Somewhere Else…**_

With a loud gasp, X woke up. Panting and out of breath, he stood up watching as several people rushed to his side.

"Are you alright?" was asked several times before X managed to push them all away.

"Whatever, I'm good," he answered grumpily as he walked off.

"You know, just because you're a stand-alone, doesn't mean that you can keep doing that," a red haired man said, leaning nonchalantly against a wall.

"Fuck it," was all that X said as he walked through another doorway and disappeared from view.

**_And that's the end of this chapter of V.O.T.R, everyone. Yeah. Sorry for da long wait… I got caught up in learning how to skate and then I lost my inspiration… yeah, but now I feel inspired and I can actually skate decently yeah… alright, now I'm ranting… adios… and please read and review… yeah… (gotta stop saying yeah… crap… I said it again…)_**


	4. Chapter 4 Welcome to the Real World

**_Sorry its been forever, I caught DDR fever... : ( I couldn't help it. Anyway, I don't own the titans… yeah… I own red x's secret identity and some other people that've made it into this… oh, yeah… I don't own the matrix… (almost forgot… yeah…) Thanks to all who reviewed and thanks to all that even bothered to look at this… yeah… onto the fic…_**

_**4. Welcome to the Real World…**_

Raven woke up feeling strange. She looked around yet nothing was amiss nor was there anything that didn't belong. 'Ok, now I'm just being paranoid,' she thought to herself. She was surprised when she received no type of comment from her emotions, not even one.

She got up, stretching for a few minutes before continuing to do anything. She walked over to the drawers where she kept her clothing and the first thing to greet her sight would be a calendar/clock.

She froze when she saw the date. "It's here…" she whispered as the glowing red numbers on the clock read July 27th. Slowly the marks around her body lit up, the fiery red glow ominous in the barely lit room.

_**With Red X…**_

"It's begins today…" X muttered, running his hands through his hair before standing up. He walked out of the room, slamming the door as hard as he could in his frustration.

"Hey, take it easy on that, you're gonna break it," a familiar red head called out to X.

Without turning, he answered "Kyo, if it broke then you'd fix it, now wouldn't you?" agitation rolling off his tongue.

They both walked down a hallway, the sounds of their boots overwhelming the sound of the voices.

"Are the signs in place, Syra?" X called out followed by Kyo, who gave a respectful bow instead of a verbal hello. Both entered a larger yet more crowded room.

"Yes and I've informed everyone that under no circumstances are they to enter during this phase," the icy blue haired vixen named Syra answered.

"Ok, I'm going in, just unplug me if you have to," X said as he hopped onto a chair, where a green haired man proceeded to strap him down. "You know that if you keep doing this, you might die."

"Look, Zero, don't worry about me," X responded with an expressionless face.

"Captain! Captain, we've just received word that the Nebuchadnezzar isn't docked in Zion along with everyone else," the operator, Erika, ran up yelling.

Syra turned around "What? But the Neba was headed there when we last spoke," she snapped back.

X felt like punching something yet unfortunately he was strapped down already. "Whatever, if they jack in and lose one, then it's on them; we warned everyone."

Erika gave a nod, hurrying back to her post. "Let's Jam!" X said, Zero sliding the plug into the back of his skull.

X opened his eyes, standing in a blank room. He suited up, sliding on the mask last. The ringing of his RAZR made him pick it up.

"X, I've created something for the suit," Erika said, "It's on the shelf to the right of you."

X picked up a small x engraved cylinder, looking at it from all angles. "So… um… what does it do?"

"You slide into the belt and it gives you unlimited fuel for the suit as well as granting you a two minute anti-personnel shield.

X looked at it once more before sliding it inside a belt compartment.

**_2 hours later…_**

X was currently stalking across the Jump City roof tops in search of a familiar face. A loud explosion gave him the heads up he needed as he ran off towards the sounds of fighting.

He stood at the on top of a bank, watching the battle between the Titans and Plasmus. X considered helping them before another presence made itself known next to him. "Hello, Mr. Anderson." X said flatly, his eyes still on the fight below him.

"My name is Neo," the One answered.

"What are you doing here?" X asked, watching Plasmus rip open a tanker truck and empty some kind of green goo into its mouth.

"Morpheus sent me to help," Neo responded.

""There's nothing that you can do here. Tell him that," X said almost casually, still watching the battle. Raven separated her soul form and flew through Plasmus, rendering him unconscious and leaving everyone covered in goo.

"I don't think so, Er-"

"Never call me that. You've no right." X said heatedly. "Jack out while you can, because if you don't, I can't guarantee your safety."

Neo stared at him for a few seconds before shaking his head.

"I don't want to be responsible for the death of the One." X finished before leaping off the building to follow the Teen Titans.

Neo watched him for a few more seconds. "What's wrong with you, Eriks?" he said softly before crouching and suddenly leaping into the sky.

**_With Raven and the others…_**

After celebrating Plamus's defeat with pizza, Raven had led them to the park to walk off the pizza and to enjoy what remained of the day.

"Come on, we still have plenty to do," Raven said with as cheery a smile as she could muster.

A shadow slowly moved across the face of the sun, effectively bringing about an eclipse that brought the city to darkness. Raven felt her head spin as the markings appeared on her entire body and she fell to the ground.

"Raven!" Robin and the rest of the titans immediately rushed to her, picking her up. "Why didn't you tell us?" Robin asked, holding her head up as her eyes slowly regained focus.

"Please, Raven, tell us," Starfire said, floating up behind Robin. "Today is the day, today is…. "

"Today is the end of the world," Raven slowly closed her eyes, tears flowing down her face.

_**Sometime later….**_

X watched as Robin, Starfire, Cyborg and Beast Boy fought to keep Slade and his army of flame creatures out of the tower, away from Raven. After much fighting, he saw Raven exit the tower.

It seemed like Robin and the others didn't like what she told them because she was forced to knock them out, laying them on the floor gently with her abilities before she marched off with Slade. X took this as his moment to appear, blurring into sight between both Raven and Slade.

"Where were you during the attack?" Slade questioned coldly, his one eyed gaze locked onto X.

"I was supervising. After all, I don't have much to do with this."

Raven turned to X, her face blank as she spoke "The prophecy's about to unfold, but what part do you have to do in this?" her question causing Slade to laugh. "Isn't it obvious? It's what your father is willing to give."

"You're a fool. Whatever he promised, he won't deliver." Raven stated without looking at him as they made their way to the ritual site.

"You don't know what you speak of," Slade answered, during their descent down the spiral stairway. X pulled out a phone and after speaking for sometime, he turned to Raven and bid her farewell "I'll come back soon," before disappearing into thin air.

_**Later on after Trigon's return….**_

"Don't interfere, X," Syra's voice cold as she gave him his orders.

"What the hell do you mean don't interfere?" X shouted into the receiver, pissed as it was.

"Exactly what I said."

"This is bullshit…" he muttered angrily, shutting the phone and slipping it away.

He quickly climbed up a shattered, broken building. Once he reached the top, he looked around and saw nothing but a wasteland where a once vibrant city lay. The city was in ruins, buildings broken and destroyed while the people that inhabited the city frozen in stone wherever they stood.

He looked towards the bay and saw the water replaced with lava, the Titans tower broken and being used as a seat by Trigon himself. "The things that need to be done…" X said as he moved through the wrecked city.

He had been watching the Robin and the rest of the titans as they all made their attack plan against Trigon. Watched as Slade and Robin both went into the underground area that led to Trigon's own territory. Watched and hated that he couldn't go save Raven himself.

He stood on top of a shattered building, watching as Raven denied her prophecy. He covered his eyes as if to deny what he was watching as he pulled his phone out. "It failed. You should've just let me tell her," he spoke into the line, not waiting to hear anything else as he snapped the phone shut.

After Trigon disappeared, Raven floated down to join the rest of the titans, no one noticing the black core of light slowly appearing in the air.

X quickly grabbed his phone again. "X! What the hell is going on?" Erika sounded scared, "I'm tracking a weird code, what is it?"

"I need an exit fast and keep track of the titans," X called into the phone as he jumped onto another building, following the directions that were given to him. He saw the payphone and he was close enough to hear its ring when he looked back. The orb had now expanded into a wave that was covering the city, and it was right behind him. He caught the ringing payphone and thrust it to his ear when the black wave caught up to him, the world fading away into a sea of green code.

_**AGX**_

His eyes snapped open, as he jerked in his seat until they unjacked him and released the clamps. This allowed him to collapse onto the deck on his arms and knees coughing out blood. He looked up when a hand was placed on his shoulder and he slowly stood up, spitting blood on the floor one more time as he met with the captain's eyes

"What happened in there?" Syra asked, her face holding a blank expression.

"The titans defeated Trigon and the demon retaliated by launching an impulse burst code function," he said running a hand through his long hair as he pushed it out of his face.

Syra turned to look back at him, "He did what? But how'd those kids beat him?" disbelief strong in her voice as she looked at X expectantly.

X managed to lean against a wall as he answered back "The Architect, he played a part in it."

Kyo stopped in the middle of his task, turning to ask "What do you mean a part in it?"

"He did his whole balancing the equation thing, giving Raven enough power to bring down Trigon and the Exile's interference didn't really make matters better," X answered with a sigh as Syra turned to Kyo.

"You have the information gathered, right?" she questioned as she headed to the computer stations. Kyo nodded as he quickly brought up the data with several taps of the keyboard. It appeared on every one of the screens, all of it encoded as rows of numbers and characters as they flowed downwards on the screen.

"I've tracked their signals to these fields and it seems like they're failing," Kyo's keystrokes got faster as he quickly sifted through the information on the fields system.

X quickly made his way into the cockpit as they arrived to their destination. Vast rows of spherical orange pods filled their vision and within each pod lay a human, whose mind was trapped in the matrix.

"Hate seeing this," X muttered as he continued to stare out of the fields. After a few minutes, he made his way back as he watched the crew all start the salvaging operation.

"Hey, I need your help here," Kyo asked as he pushed one of the keyboards towards X, not looking away from the computer as he resumed his quick hackwork.

"What the hell for?" X asked crankily, "You always do this, so what do you need me for right now?"

"Trigon's somehow jammed the commands on the whole field of pods," he muttered a couple of curses as the screen changed into another. "I need to fix that while you hack those watchers."

X quickly started up his task, the sounds around him dimming as he watched the data flow on the screens and its slow coalesced into a picture of the outside world in his eyes, the huge spider like watcher robots all in his view. Once he was done with the hacking, he leaned back to watch Kyo do his work.

The data started to drop faster on the screen, before they all went dark around them.

"What the hell was that?" X asked as the screens slowly flicked back to life, the matrix data scrolling down slowly. On the center screen, the display had failed to return the matrix data as a video appeared.

"You fools ruined my plans!" the demonic voice of Trigon reverberated throughout the ship. "Those brats shouldn't have been allowed to interfere!"

X stared back coldly as he answered "Its your own fault, all that prophecy bullshit screwed you over."

Trigon's face contorted to one of fury and X quickly typed in several commands and the screen blanked out. "Shut up…" he muttered.

Several minutes later, the voice of the pilot reached their ears "Well ladies and gentlemen, I'm glad to report that we have our first passenger and we'll pick up the rest soon enough." X grabbed a gray towel near the computers as he quickly made his way to the cargo bay.

Lying on the floor was a familiar pale form, shivering as she slowly started to go unconscious. X crouched down, quickly covering her body with the towel as he muttered "Welcome to the **_Real World_**, Raven."


	5. Chapter 5 Refuse Resist

_**Welcome one and all. To another chapter of Visions of the Real. Don't own the Matrix; Don't own Teen Titans, only own some characters that are around so far… but anyway. Thanks to all who've reviewed, and now on with the show…. **_

_**5. Refuse Resist**_

There was a black orb in front of her, taller and wider than her, and she slowly approached it. A voice called to her from within it, but another called her away from it. She stood for a few seconds before venturing forward, noting that the sphere lay perfectly balanced on the uneven ground. Again a voice warned her to get away while another called out from within the sphere, begging for freedom.

Raven stood in front of it, searching for some sort of clue as to what it was. She pressed her palm against it, realizing that it was cool to the touch and slightly slick. Her hand seemed to want to stick to it as she pulled it back; she looked at it as black liquid started to cover it completely and slowly spread upwards.

She grasped at it, trying to pull it off and watched as it spread onto her left arm. "Get off of me!" she muttered the liquid spread all over her body, giving into panic until it covered her completely.

"_Welcome to the __**Real World**__, Raven._" A familiar voice echoed throughout the darkness that now covered her, repeating over and again. Slowly, some light seemed to seep into the surrounding area and Raven moved towards it.

"Ugghh" the scratchy, low groan caught X's attention as he turned away from the displays.

"Hey, sleeping beauty," X said with a grin, watching as Raven slowly tried to force her eyes open before giving up with another groan. "Why … can't…I open my eyes?" she asked slowly, "What's … wrong with… my voice?"

"Nothing, you've just never used them, so rest for now," Raven heard X speak before she sunk back into sleep.

Her mind swirled through the darkness, flashes of color bringing forth memories and visions of things. She saw herself along with the Titans fighting their battles against the constant presence of evil in Jump. She saw flashes of a post apocalyptic world ravaged by war and destruction. She saw flashes of fights in a normal world against entities that couldn't be described. She saw X dying, she felt herself cradle him in her arms as the life slowly drained out of him. She awoke with a gasp.

Slowly, she sat up, opening her eyes a bit and finding the room bathed in darkness. She winced a bit when she opened her eyes fully, but once done, she took stock of her surroundings. It was a metal room; the way it was constructed reminded her of a ship, colored in dull gray. She slowly pushed herself to her feet, realizing that she wasn't wearing her standard uniform; instead she wore a pair of loosely fitting gray sweats along with a gray ragged shirt and a pair of black scuffed boots.

"Well… seems like you're up…" a familiar voice reached her eyes and she whirled around to see X. He stood there, wearing similar clothing and his earrings were made of a colorful metal, colors shifting in the light. "About the hair, it seems like you'll grow it back quickly."

Raven stared at him and he motioned for her to look into a small square piece of glass. Her eyes widen as she caught sight of her now short hair, barely long enough to be half way to her ears. She ran her hand through it, until it bumped into a round metal disc that seemed to be dug into her skull. "And then there's that," X said with a grim face.

"What did you do to me?" she snarled, before submitting to a fit of coughs.

"Easy now, you're still not fully recovered," X held her steady. "Think you can stay on your feet long enough to follow?" he asked with concern. When Raven nodded, he stepped back and headed towards the door "Follow me then."

Raven followed after him, noting that he was walking at a slow pace, most likely for her benefit. She took time to look around, gray metal plating covered the hallway, only receding at several points to reveal pipes and wiring. A brown colored metal plaque caught her eye and she stopped to read the inscription. "Ephialtes Mark XVI made in the USA year 2115."

"This is a hovercraft, used to broadcast a pirate signal into the matrix." A distinctively familiar female voice reached Raven's ears and she stopped in her paces. "What's wrong? You looked surprised to see me."

"Tara Markov!" Raven's eyes widen as they fell on the familiar face of the slim blonde haired girl.

"A little to early, don't you think Terra?" X grimaced; as he gave Raven a gentle tug on the hand. "We still have everything to explain. Everything." He gave Terra a glare, before leading Raven into the main chamber of the ship.

Raven looked around the crowded room, seeing people surrounding a computer display. When both Raven and X reached it, all she could see were green characters scrolling down the screen rapidly. "What's happening?"

"The captain's testing one of the new kids," a red haired man answered, eyes still trained on the monitor.

"He's not doing so bad," X noted, after a glance at the screen, before quickly snatching up a headset and slipping it on. "Syra, she's awake now, so when ever you're ready?" After a few seconds, he slipped it off and walked over to a circle of chairs, two of which were occupied. Raven hadn't seen the two people on them, until now. After a few minutes, she saw X unplug someone for the first time.

"Why is it that every time you unplug me, it seems all rough and hurried?" Syra muttered, stretching once she stood up.

"It's a gift," X answered with a chuckle as he unplugged the next one.

"It doesn't get easier, does it?" at that, Raven finally realized why he looked familiar.

"Robin?" she arched an eye brow as Robin flinched. He was the same Robin she remembered, except that he had stubble where his hair once was and his eyes were unmasked.

"Yep, it's the blue eyed wonder of the world," X groused as he pushed Robin forward and out of the way. "Now come here and have a seat."

"She's not ready," Robin snarled at him.

"Not ready for what?" Raven's question was ignored.

"Who are you to say she isn't ready?" Syra interrupted them both, before it turned into a fight. "She is not under your care, so therefore you are not allowed to decide what she's ready for or not." Syra's quiet voice seemed to echo throughout the room.

"Gar wasn't ready for it. Look what happened to him." Robin snarled a few steps towards Syra, only to be cut off by X. "Get out of my way," Robin tried to shove past him only to be tossed onto the deck easily.

"Back off, bird brain," X glared at him, his hands balled into fists. "The captain's right. It's not your place to say whether she's ready or not." Robin stood up slowly, stepping up to X once more. "No matter what happened to Garfield, it's not your choice. It's hers."

"What happened to Beast Boy?" Raven's question interrupted the standoff between Robin and X. She turned to Syra, who took a seat on one of the chairs in the circle.

"Unfortunately… he's dead. He couldn't handle the stress of what he learned and it killed him." Syra's answer was quick and to the point, shocking Raven. "Now, you have a choice. We can show you the same information that we showed him or we can take you to Zion and plug you into a tank for you to remain there. Your choice."

Robin opened his mouth but Raven stopped him. "Sorry Robin, but she's right. This is my choice and I choose to learn." With that said, X took her over and sat her in one of the chairs, quickly strapping her in.

"I'm not going to lie and say this won't hurt. Cause it will, but it'll go away quickly enough." X explained as he tapped the displays that were on the right side of the chair.

"So will you do the honors, captain?" X gave Syra a mock bow as he motioned towards another of the chairs.

"No… I've already gone in today…" She motioned to Kyo, who stepped forward and herded X into a chair. "I suggest you enlighten her." Before X knew it, he was strapped to the chair and Zero was standing next to him ready to plug him in.

"Go for it."

Raven winced as she felt the needle enter her skull, a shrill sound filling her ears. When she opened her eyes, she was standing in a completely white room. "This is the construct." She turned to catch sight of X, who was sitting on a coffee table and watching her calmly.

She arched an eyebrow at him, "Is it me or do you like dressing up?"

X gave her an impudent grin as he answered "It's not my fault I look good in a suit." He straightened the shirt collar of his green shirt, admiring the black suit. "Too bad we don't have this stuff out there anymore." He muttered.

Raven walked towards X, noticing the mirror in the background. She caught her reflection and ran her fingers through her hair. "I thought it was cut."

"Well, from what I know, the way you look right now is your residual self image. So, that's the way you'll look when you jack back into the matrix." He stood up and the blank whiteness of their surroundings disappeared. Now, it showed an image of the Jump City that she'd gotten to know since she became a Teen Titan.

"You think this is the year 2008, when actually it's a lot closer to the year 2199. We're not quite sure as most ways to keep track of time are largely unavailable." The world seemed to zoom closer, leaving them standing in the heart of Jump City and suddenly everything changed.

"This is what remains of Jump City," X motioned all around him, where only rubble remained. The sky was covered with murky, black clouds which blocked out the sun's light. "The whole world is in the same shape. Except for Zero One, the machine city."

The view changed once more, zooming past pipelines that led into the heart of the machines. "We created Artificial Intelligence, and we got lazy. We relied on machines to do everything and after being exposed to all aspects of humanity, it evolved by itself."

Everything changed once more. This time, they seemed to be standing in the Tower's living room, looking out the large bay window. "You see the sky?" he motioned to the sky and it changed from the sunny view to the murky black covered sky once more.

"We did that. Humanity did, in order to try and stop the machines, which were dependent on solar energy then." The sky changed back to being sunny. "We lost the war and the machines used us as batteries."

Raven had been staring and listening to X with wide eyes. She found herself standing on rough, rocky ground and she followed X over what seemed to be a ridge. She froze once she caught sight of the other side.

"These are the fields. Here, we are born, we live and we die, being used as batteries for the machines." X seemed to grimace at this. "What you lived was nothing more than an artificial construct designed to keep humanity happy." He walked over to a pod, where a giant spider like machine placed a baby, plugging it into the matrix for its first time.

Raven was repulsed at that, unable to say anything coherently. X sighed and the pictured faded back into the blank whiteness of the beginning. "Unplug her and unplug me." He called out, and the world disappeared once again.

Raven gave a ragged gasp as she was unplugged, forcing herself to stand up. "Shit, she's not gonna make it." Kyo called out. The whole world seemed to spin for Raven and then everything went black.

"I told you!" Robin snarled at X, who was holding Raven in his arms.

"It was her choice, so back off unless you want me to hurt you." The fury in his eyes barely contained as he shoved past Robin, carrying Raven to her room.

He placed Raven down gently on the bed, covering her with the thin blankets. He stayed inside the room long enough to brush a strand of her hair out of her face before leaving. "She didn't take it well, right?" Terra was leaning on the wall right next to the door.

"Better than Garfield."

Terra bristled at that, her hands balled into fists. "Don't talk about him. Don't you dare."

"I'll talk about anyone I want. If you don't like it, leave." X snarled at her, his fist colliding with the wall next to her head. "Just because your lover didn't make it doesn't mean you fuck this up for anyone else."

Tara had tears in her eyes as she glared at him. She punched him hard in the face before she stalked away, tears coursing down her face. "Stupid bitch." X muttered, rubbing his jaw as he walked back into the command room.

"The real world is never pretty," Syra's voice reached his ears and he looked up, watching her as she handed him a steaming mug. "They'll adapt… or they will die."

"You always were a pessimist," X said with a grin as he took a seat next to her, his eyes glued on the displays that showed the matrix. "Still think that Thomas will save us?"

"Neo was proven to be the one but … it still doesn't mean much." Syra answered as she closed her eyes, leaning back.

"See… pessimist to the core, you are…" X downed the last of his drink, wincing as the heat burned his throat before leaving the captain to her peace.

"I hate the real world…" X muttered to himself.

_**A/N: and finally, I finish this…. Its been a long time in coming, but yes… Adios for now and hope you enjoyed it… D **_


	6. Chapter 6 Metallic Rain

_**Yeah, it's been a while since I last updated so I now bring an update. Hopefully the nearly yearlong hiatus didn't help me kill this fic with fyre. Well, on with the show then…. **_

_**6. Metallic Rain…**_

Raven groaned as she woke up, opening her eyes slowly. The dim lights of the room didn't hurt her still slightly sensitive eyes. "And once again, sleeping beauty awakens…" She closed her eyes with a sigh, memories bombarding her mind and firmly forcing her acknowledge everything that occurred.

"So, it wasn't all a dream?"

"If it was a dream, then it'd be me, you in a skimpy two piece swimsuit and ice cold drinks somewhere on a beach…" X answered with a wide smile on his face, stepping into the room. "Are you feeling better?" he placed a bowl with a kind of unidentifiable slop inside it on the small metal table.

"Yes. What's this?" She had grabbed the bowl, inspecting the contents and was making a face at it already.

"That… would be dinner." X handed her a spoon and proceeded to start eating from a similar bowl. "According to what I've been told, it contains all the essential vitamins, minerals and proteins and other stuff that we need. Dig in."

She took another look at the whitish gloop before eating a spoonful of it. "It… doesn't taste like anything." She started eating slowly, watching X quickly empty his bowl. She arched an eyebrow at him.

"I hate its tastelessness…" X replied with a shrug, "It's not really food, not to me anyway."

"You said it meets the requirements to be food…"

"Yeah, all but one anyway. If it hasn't been killed once and cooked, it's not food," he gave a sigh, leaning back against the small bed. He waited until Raven was done eating before piling both bowls together and standing up. "Today… is your training day."

Raven followed him out of the room and down the hallways until he stopped briefly to leave the bowls in the crowded mess hall. She saw Robin sitting there, eyeing what passed for food warily.

Once again X was on the move, winding through the corridors until they ended up in the command room. "Yo, Kyo… training time." He kicked the chair that the red headed Kyo had been napping on, earning himself a glare.

"Always gotta wake me up when I'm having a good dream…" Kyo muttered, yanking the keyboard forward and starting up several programs. "Anyway, have a seat over there. X'll jack you in and then we're gonna do some combat training."

Raven arched an eyebrow at that and X answered as he continued strapping her down. "It'll be fast and easy, but you won't be learning too many styles." He jacked her in and Kyo inserted a disc into the computer. Raven expected to be immersed into the construct but what she got was the same electronic screech from when she was first plugged in.

"What…what was that?" she gasped when it let up, looking around to X who was sitting there juggling something. "Did I just learn kickboxing?" X gave her a nod and a smirk as she sat back letting more knowledge float into her mind.

A loud beep brought X back out of the trance he had pulled himself into. He watched as Kyo unhooked Raven before proceeding to answer the call. "This is Morpheus, captain of the Nebuchadnezzar. May I speak with Captain Syra?" With a couple of keystrokes, Kyo shunted the call to the captain's quarters while X helped Raven out of the chair.

It didn't take long for Syra to make her way to the connection room, a frown on her face. Zero ran through the room, heading off to join the co-pilot as Syra motioned for Kyo to move closer. "The oracle has contacted Morpheus and has asked to meet Raven. We'll be accompanied by Morpheus himself along with his crew."

"It's too soon for her to just get taken into the Matrix." Kyo spoke up, an old coin spinning in his hands. "She doesn't have the adequate amount of training to take her in there." Raven glared at him and Kyo gave her a shrug, "You can't deal with Agents. You might be one of the machine's special humans but that doesn't mean much." Kyo stood up, reaching over to the comm. system and calling for Erika, "We're up for a mission, operator."

Syra sat on the chair, leaning back as X quickly prepped the connections. Once she was jacked into the construct, he proceeded to jack in Kyo before turning to Raven. "Take a seat and this time, stay calm. You'll need to listen to whatever I say once we're in, got it?" Raven made a face as she nodded, sliding into the seat and allowing herself to be sent into the construct.

She stood once more in the blank white room, watching as both Syra and Kyo strapped weapons onto themselves. "You were the ones on the Tower that night?" She received a pair of nods before X appeared next to her. He was clothed in the Red X suit already, the mask in his hands as he turned to face Raven.

"The only thing I can tell you is. Everyone's an enemy. While they're still jacked into the Matrix, they can be controlled by the Agents." Raven listened as she slowly followed Syra's lead, allowing her clothing to change into a pair of form fitting black jeans, a tight black t-shirt covered by a bomber jacket. "If we meet Agents, run. I'll hold them back."

"You expect me to run? Run while you fight these Agents?" X rolled his eyes before sliding on his mask, the voice changer back on as he chuckled. "What's so funny?" Raven asked as both Kyo and Syra laughed as well.

"Expect? Agents are dangerous and you are _ordered_ to run. Got it?" The harsh metallic sound added to his voice brought the argument to a halt. X went over to join both Kyo and Syra near a phone that lay on a desk that hadn't been there before.

"Here, just in case." Kyo thrust a Colt 1911 towards Raven. She took it with a slight hesitation as she slid it into her jacket pocket. "Give us an opening." Kyo's voice echoed throughout the white room and the phone began to ring. X stepped forward, grabbing the phone and placing it to his ear. Raven watched as he faded into nothing and the phone fell to the floor. After Syra went through and the phone was set back onto the receiver, it was her turn.

The phone started to ring and with a deep breath, Raven picked it up and everything went green. When her sight cleared once more, she was standing in the middle of a wrecked house with only Syra for company until Kyo appeared. "Recon and Retrieval," was what Syra said when Raven asked about X.

"They're coming." X appeared inside the room in a blur as the door behind him opened. Inside stepped three people, the first was a bald black man wearing sunglasses without stems, followed by a black haired woman wearing shiny leather clothing and last inside the room was a man with short black hair pushed back wearing a long coat with a high-rise mandarin collar.

"My name is Morpheus, captain of the Nebuchadnezzar. This is my second in command, Trinity," Morpheus gestured towards Trinity, who gave a silent nod "And this is Neo." Neo gave a nod, taking a look around the room before nodding towards Morpheus. "We'll accompany you to the Oracle, if you'd please follow me?"

"Kyo and I will accompany you, Raven." Syra stepped out of the room, followed by everyone but X. Raven paused in the door to glance at X, who gestured for her to continue before disappearing in a familiar black blur. "We need to get something straight, Morpheus. We are not your soldiers so you'll have to refrain from giving orders."

Morpheus nodded in acceptance while Trinity scoffed from where she walked, behind Raven but in front of Syra and Kyo. Outside, Raven felt the rays of the bright sun upon her skin once more, the wind blowing gently and making the small amount of trees around there sway. 'This isn't real, this is only a simulation…' the thought crossed her mind as she climbed into the car that awaited them.

"This is what it means to be free from the machines. To know that this entire world is fake, nothing that the machines can't just reprogram at their whim." Raven sighed again, turning to look out the car's window, catching the occasional blur of black across the rooftops that signified that X was still with them.

_**AGX**_

After a short ride through the bustling streets of downtown Los Angeles, they pulled up in front of a grey 8 story apartment building.

_**AGX**_

"Welcome, the oracle will see you now." A kind faced woman wearing a white robe open the front door of the apartment, allowing them entrance to a sparsely decorated room, "We're still putting everything back in its place, so please don't mind the mess," Raven looked up, locking eyes with the Oracle for the second time in her life. "Ah, so I see you do remember me. I was beginning to wonder whether the life of a teenage heroine made you forgetful," The warm, soft voice of the Oracle put Raven at ease once more as she followed after the ebony skinned woman into the kitchen.

"So, how have you been since the last time I saw you, Raven?" The Oracle pulled out a chair, taking a seat and motioning for Raven to take one as well. "You seemed lost at that time, but now… you've found what you were looking for. You just don't know it yet." The Oracle laughed softly, before standing and checking on her oven even as a small girl walked into the kitchen.

"Just in time for the cookies, Sati," A tray was removed from the oven and the smell of fresh cookies filled Raven's nose. "Have one, Raven." It was hot, still slightly soft but it was food with a taste, Raven gave a small thanks as the Oracle waved her out of the room. "Don't worry too much, Raven."

"I'm hoping that was productive," X stated, giving Neo and Trinity the finger before turning to Raven. "Seraph's not here, something is going on. We need to go, quick." X led the way out of the building, looking left and right upon exiting before disappearing in a blur once more and leaving Raven in the hands of Syra and Kyo. A blur appeared on the building across from the Oracle's apartment, solidifying into X who watched the people moving below.

His gloved hand made contact with the side of his mask, pressing a small switch that immediately changed his clear vision into lines and lines of unending code. Code Vision. An ability not contained by his imperfect body, he scoffed as he scanned the surrounding areas for the familiar red tinge of an Agent's code structure. Once he made sure it was clear, he teleported away once more to scan the route for trouble.

"I found Seraph but he seems to be a bit preoccupied. I'll continue watching for Agents," A leap into nothingness followed, before he landed on the rooftop of the derelict house, scanning the surroundings once more. The car that contained Raven arrived, radiating a brilliant golden orange light that Neo was the source of along with another light, a crimson and purple light emitted from Raven herself. 'Beautiful' he watched as Raven exited the car, his eyes sheathed in code vision allowing him to gaze to her core for a few moments.

A ripple occurred, distorting the coding of the matrix that X was viewing as Agents arrived close by. "In the house, now! I'll intercept the Agents." He jumped off the rooftop, teleporting across the street and into the three Agents that had been making a beeline for the house. He slammed a roundhouse kick on the first one, making him tumble into the other two and bringing them all down in a heap.

"Hello, boys. Fancy meeting you here." The agents stood up, fixing their suits as they stared at X furiously.

"We want the anomaly. Stand aside human." 'Oh, now that's low…' X cleared the gap between them in a leap, planting a fist in the first agent's face before flipping backwards to avoid the kicks sent by the other two. A grin appeared on X's face, hidden from view by his mask, before he teleported again. The Agents tumbled like bowling pins as Neo flew into them, looking around until he spotted X watching from atop a light post.

"You need a hand?" Neo shook his head, declining the offer for help while the Agents all stood up, making their way towards him alone.

"Get to your exit. I'll take care of these." X shrugged, jumping off the pole and teleporting behind the third agent and snapping his neck.

"Adios then." He teleported away, clear across the town and on top of a bank building in the downtown district. He waited patiently until he got the cal from the operator and proceeded to break into the bank and grab the ringing phone in an empty conference room.

_**AGX**_

"How was it, Raven? Getting a taste of what used to be only to return here to what is," Terra chuckled as she spooned some more of the paste called food into her mouth. Raven gave her a blank look, before returning to her meal and ignoring the blonde. "Don't give me that look. At least you're here and not floating in a tank somewhere in Zion."

Raven looked up, "What is Zion and who's floating in a tank there?" Curiosity had reared its head as she pushed away her bowl of paste and started speaking to the blonde sitting across from her.

"Zion is the last human city on earth, where humans are still born naturally unlike you and me both." Terra tapped the metal disk on the back of her head before she sighed. "And its most of your team that's floating in a tank. Didn't you know?"

"No. I didn't." Raven had been wondering where Cyborg and Starfire were, having seen Robin around the ship but she'd forgotten about it as she tried to adjust to the new world and new rules. "I just know that Beast Boy's dead, I wasn't sure where everyone else was."

"He's not dead! He's in a tank comatose while Cyborg is slowly getting reacquainted with having a completely human body and so is Starfire." There, she'd said it and Raven sighed, putting her head down on the table. "Machines. Fucking. Machines." Raven had rarely cursed before, even when she was irritated or angry, before when she was still a Titan, when she was still living in a pod and dreaming. But the situation called for cursing, copious amounts of cursing which she refrained from doing.

"I have to go," Raven stood up, gathering her bowl and placing it in the sink at the end of the mess hall, leaving Terra alone.

_**AGX**_

"What's got you all wound up?" X asked as he watched Raven's grim face while she walked through the corridors.

"Nothing." Raven ground out, speeding up as fast as she could without breaking into a run. "Everything."

"Well, you want to talk about it? Do you want to vent some frustrations out on the sims?" Raven shook her head, declining on using the construct just to fight. "Look, I know what it is and just brooding over it like the Toy Wonder isn't going to make you feel better." Raven reached her door, opening it and entering; after a few moments she turned and looked at X gesturing as to whether he'd like to enter.

"I'll answer one question for you then, but it'd better not be one of those broody why is this happening to me and what the hell did I do wrong questions, got it?" Raven nodded and X entered her quarters, sitting on the floor and waiting for Raven to begin.

"Kyo called me one of the Machine's special humans, what was he talking about?" Raven crossed her arms and sat on the bunk, against the wall to her room, watching as X pondered her question.

"We, humans that is, were taken as a power source once we scorched the sky with nanobots to prevent machines from running on sunlight. There were various versions of the Matrix that failed because they were too perfect and human nature doesn't accept perfection at that level, so easily." X took a drink of water from a cup before continuing. "The first metahumans were altered by the machines in order for them to police the rest of humanity. Of course that failed along with the first incarnation of the matrix. After several reincarnations of the matrix failed, they kept developing more and more metahumans, bettering their work until they finally found a stable version of the matrix that people would accept. Afterwards, they found multiple ways of assimilating these special humans into the matrix."

"How exactly?"

"Well, first example would be Superman. The last son of a dying planet crash landing on earth and finding that the sun gave him power, then there's Batman's murdered parents, the Flash receiving a fateful lightning strike. You get the picture now?" Raven understood now, and somehow, it all made sense. Of course, if machines could rule the entire human race and keep them clueless, then inserting _random_ events was certainly in their power.

"My power, inside the matrix, it's because of machines inserting a code within me?" Raven felt strangely violated, wondering how exactly a code was inserted into a person to produce powers and abilities. It was all still new, but not shocking, to find that the life she thought she'd lived was nothing more than a dream dreamed from inside a pod filled with orange liquid.

"Try not to think about it too much, it only gives headaches." X gave a chuckle as he stretched out on the floor, arms behind his head and staring at the bulkhead of the ship. Raven watched X doze off, his breathing evening out before she laid back on her bunk, closing her eyes and fading into the blissfully dark of sleep.

_**A/N: And this is the end to chapter 6 of Visions of the Real. I know it's been a while since I updated and I'm sorry, I just lost inspiration for everything and life got busy. But I should be able to start updating a lot more frequently. R and R, oh and Adios for now… **_


End file.
